Trump says Meta has ‘come a long way’ after Zuckerberg ends fact-checking on platforms
EXCLUSIVE: President-elect Donald Trump reacted to Meta's move to end its fact-checking program on Facebook, Instagram and its other platforms, telling Fox News Digital that the company has "come a long way."
Fox News first reported that Meta is ending its fact-checking program and lifting restrictions on speech to "restore free expression" across its platforms, admitting its current content moderation practices have "gone too far."
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In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Trump said he thinks Meta's "presentation was excellent."
"They have come a long way," Trump said.
Trump's comments come after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement in a video Tuesday morning, saying his company is "going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms."
Meta plans to replace fact-checking with a "Community Notes" model similar to the one used on X, formerly Twitter.
Meta’s third-party fact-checking program was put in place after the 2016 election and had been used to "manage content" and misinformation on its platforms, largely due to "political pressure," executives said, but admitted the system has "gone too far."
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Meta's chief global policy director, Joel Kaplan, told Fox News Digital that Meta is also changing some of its own content moderation rules, especially those that they feel are "too restrictive and not allowing enough discourse around sensitive topics like immigration, trans issues and gender.
"We want to make sure that discourse can happen freely on the platform without fear of censorship," Kaplan told Fox News Digital. "We have the power to change the rules and make them more supportive of free expression. And we’re not just changing the rules, we are actually changing how we enforce the rules."
Kaplan said Meta currently uses automated systems, which he said make "too many mistakes" and removes content "that doesn’t even violate our standards."
He also said there are certain things Meta will continue to moderate, like posts relating to terrorism, illegal drugs and child sexual exploitation.
But as for the timing of the changes, Kaplan told Fox News Digital the company has "a real opportunity now."
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"We have a new administration coming in that is far from pressuring companies to censor and [is more] a huge supporter of free expression," Kaplan said, referring to the incoming Trump administration. "It gets us back to the values that Mark founded the company on."
Last year, Zuckerberg sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee in which he admitted that he felt pressure from the Biden administration, particularly with regard to COVID-19 content, and even subjects like satire and humor.
"The thing is, as American companies, when other governments around the world that don’t have our tradition or our First Amendment, when they see the United States government pressuring U.S. companies to take down content, it is just open season then for those governments to put more pressure [on their companies]," Kaplan explained. "We do think it is a real opportunity to work with the Trump administration and to work on free expression at home."
Kaplan also said Meta sees "opportunities for partnership" with the Trump administration, not only on issues of free expression but also in "promoting American business and America’s technological edge."
"Those are issues of great importance to Meta and our sector," Kaplan said. "And we’re excited to work with the Trump administration to advance those goals."
Meanwhile, Meta also said it plans to take a more personalized approach to political content, so that users who want to see more posts of that kind can do so.
Meta said it will refocus its enforcement efforts to "illegal and high-severity violations."
Meanwhile, this week, Trump ally UFC CEO Dana White joined Meta’s board.
"I love social media," White wrote. "And I’m excited to be a small part of the future of AI and emerging technologies."
Also joining the Meta board is former Microsoft Corp. executive Charlie Songhurst, who has been working with the company already on artificial intelligence products, and Exov NV CEO John Elkann. Elkann’s company has stakes in many European businesses, including Ferrari NV and Italy’s popular soccer team, Juventus Football Club.